Hey Burger King, You're Getting Timed for a Reason!
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Something weird happened at the Burger King drive-thru, and I finally figured out why.
Last night, on the way home from camp, the kids and I went through the Burger King drive-thru. When we were next in line for the window I noticed that the guy in front of me had his reverse lights on, so I stayed back about 10 feet-I can't tell you how many times I've seen people back up for something, forget they're in reverse, then hit the gas.
When it was my turn at the window, the BK cashier asked me to pull forward and then back up. I was so surprised and busy processing what she was saying and trying not to back up into the window with my mirror and asking for salt and checking the orders that I didn't get a chance to ask her why. But I guessed that she had asked the guy in front of me to do the same thing. As I was leaving, I looked in the review mirror and saw that the guy behind me was doing the same thing as well. WTF?
It bothered me for the rest of the day that I couldn't figure out what the purpose was. I went back in my mind to my days working at McDonald's and Arby's, but at both places I mostly made the food. I worked the registers occasionally, but I rarely worked the drive-thru (and when I did, I got overwhelmed easily-it's the hardest job in any fast food restaurant that has only one drive-thru window).
Then, finally, it hit me: I've seen big timers in some restaurants, timing how long each Drive-Through order was taking. There must be a sensor somewhere that stops the clock and starts timing the next order! Was she asking each car to stop the clock on their order so that the restaurant's stats would look good?
I went back this morning in the interest of investigation, not because I was dying for a Croissan'wich (OK, I was-they're really good!). Once again, when I got to the window, I was asked to pull forward and back up. I said "Why? Are you trying to stop the timer?" She said yes. I said something to the effect of "But that's cheating. How will the process get any faster if they think you're already really fast?"
I know enough about fast food restaurants to know that they really study this stuff. There are systems that figure out when you should drop fries based on how many cars are in the drive-thru lines. There are McDonald's that have outsourced their drive-thru order-taking jobs to call centers. Corporate sure as hell wants to know for how long people are sitting in the drive-thru.
The BK worker admitted that yes, it was cheating, but that the restaurant is given time goals each week and they're not meeting them. So I said something like, "But how will the times get faster if you don't acknowledge that there's a problem?" She told me I didn't have to pull forward if I didn't want to. I'm not really sure it was necessary for her to tell me that. Was the alternative for her to hold my food hostage until I pulled forward?
When I go through a drive-thru, I want the process to be fast. And more often than not here in Brooklyn, the process is anything but. So as a customer, it is absolutely not in my best interest to help Burger King trick corporate into thinking that they're already speedy. I'm insulted that they'd ask.
2024 EDIT: Wow. I just found this post and read it for the first time in a very long time. I come off as very bitchy. If I'd written this today, I would be called a Karen.
I still stand by the principle of the post: circumventing systems meant to make things faster doesn't help anybody in the long-run.
But first of all, I absolutely should not have talked to that employee about it. I mean, seriously, dick move. I'd had those types of jobs, you would think that would have kept me from being so uptight about somebody just trying to get through her minimum-wage shift.
And second of all, I didn't do a good job (either to that employee, or in the post) of explaining that the problem I had was with the system that corporate had set up, because ultimately I'm sure their goal was to do less with more. To drive their employees as hard as they could.
And in my naive little mind, my thinking was that if you could just show the bosses the real numbers, you could convince them that the system they'd set up was doomed to fail, because they were giving the employees impossibly high goals. That cheating, by asking me to back up, was really cheating the employees out of a chance to improve things for themselves.
I'll bet that when I wrote this, I actually believed that. Because that's the way I want the world to work. (But of course, that all kind of falls apart in the last paragraph, when I make it about me getting my food faster. I'm guessing I thought that that was a "strong" way to close.)
But of course, we all know that that's not how things work. Most companies don't care even a little bit about their employees' well being. They care about profits. It was bad then, and it's gotten worse now. And yes, I'm just stating the obvious here, I know. But the post makes it seem like I don't care about the employees at all, just the rules.
Hopefully my writing has gotten better since then, and I can now get my points across better. I know that my empathy has grown, although there is always room for more.
Saw your post mentioned in a few spots and decided to comment with the originator!
I had a similar thing happen to me about a year ago - also at a BK here in Dallas, TX. However, instead of having me back up, the server asked me to pull forward to a designated area and they would bring my food to me momentarily.
I have no problem doing this when there's someone waiting in line behind me. However, I checked my rear-view mirror, noticed no one was behind me, and then said "No, I prefer to wait here."
The server looked stunned. "Sir, would you please pull forward and we'll bring your order to you."
Me: "Nope. There's no one behind me, so there's no point in pulling forward. I'll move if someone comes up behind me."
And I didn't budge. My order came to me in about 3 minutes (as I recall, it was something deep-fried that would take some time if not pre-prepared). I thanked the server and drove away from my only parking spot.
Of course, I probably ate spit, but that's a different issue.
@Jim - Amen brother. Of all the meaningless myopic issues to get your panties in a bunch about.... wow.
This article is an example for how small-minded and petty Americans have become. Seriously? You're all getting upset over how some minimum-wage kids are trying to prevent getting fired by their pimply-faced assistant Manager at Burger King? You're uncovering the great burger conspiracy that prevents you from getting your meat 20 seconds faster? Nice work!
Meanwhile, there is a world out there with actually *important* issues.
My advice: if someone asks you to back up and pull forward ... Give some poor kid a break and do it.
@Jen O -
'Never'? Yet you continue to return to the restaurant. Interesting.
Exactly... customers exaggerate CONSTANTLY, especially when they feel they might get free food or a reqard in return.
No, not directed at you. It was a generalized "you". :)
As for special requests - hey we took them, and were happy to make them sometimes. Even the "fries no salt" didn't bother us - if it was asked for with the order, and not when they pulled up to the window and we had already taken their money (you might be amazed at what people order at the window).
We had all kinds of special orders (it's BK after all) and that was fine. A lot of it is *how* you order it. My biggest pet peeve was the people who would order something, get it, then come back with a major attitude because their food was wrong. Even though it was given to them *exactly* how they verbally ordered it.
Anyhow, as for the DT times - yeah it helps if you help the employees get your food out faster. It helps that I worked DT for so long, but as soon as I order something, I toss my wallet on the console - I usually pay via Debit card. if I am paying with cash, I rummage around while pulling through the line. It helps a lot as far as speed of service.
And there could be many reasons for "gaming" the system as far as the times go. Maybe the early crew was short because 2 people called out and they only had two people (the manager included) to run the entire store until 9-10am or later. I have been stuck with that scenario when I was the opening manager. Luckily the guy I usually opened with was a fast worker and I could work front and DT at the same time and still beat times :)
And yes, drive thru gets absolute priority. Ever wonder why it takes like 10 minutes to get your food inside, when only two people are in front of you - while 5+ cars have been in and out of DT in that time? Because DT gets priority. DT food is made first usually, if possible.
Anyhow, I'm rambling now and I need to get back to work :p
@Sean - Thanks Sean, I appreciate you taking the time to write that. And I'll assume that you were using the term "you" interchangeably and weren't directing all of that at me. :-) Although I will say the one that I'm guilty of is often forgetting to get my money ready until I get to the window - unless there's one of those little signs stuck in the ground on the way to the window reminding me. Simple things like that help the process a lot.
When I worked at McDonald's, more often than not I worked the breakfast shift (had to be there at 4:45 when I was opening, tons of fun). We had a lot of older customers who would come in and order dry biscuits, or one big pancake instead of three normal-sized ones. It was a PITA, but we worked it out with those half dozen customers that as long as they didn't come during the morning rush, we would do it.
click-thru from The Consumerist.
So you went to BK and harassed the kid behind the window. Good on you- that's quality work.
1000 people and a growing number more agree that "this may fall under the category of 'Things Normal People Should Really Not Be Caring About'."
Wow. It's not secret really. I worked at a few different Burger Kings (and a McDonald's) during and right after high school. I was an assistant manager for 2-3 of those years.
Let me tell you, if there is one metric our district managers cared about, it was our drive thru times. As Germaine stated, our target was 2minutes and 30seconds. The timer started the moment you pull up to the speaker. 2:30 is a reasonable target for sure. The problem is, the times aren't married to anything else - there is no context. The DMs can get a print out of every single time, but there is nothing to tell them why the times are what they are.
Sure, there are lazy fast food workers. Having worked and managed in the industry, I can pick them out as soon as I walk in to a place. And let me tell you, in those instances where I wait 10+ minutes for a basic order - I let them know how horrible they are at their job.
Really the only way to "improve" the process, is to put people in the restaurant who actually work. When I worked morning/lunch shift in drive thru, we could easily run 100+ cars/hour through the drive thru. All it takes is people being good at their job. it's not hard, but you have to have some brain power to not get lost.
So here's a few tips for you, the fast-food drive-thru consumer:
1. When you get to the speaker, stfu, put your stupid cell phone down - your friend can wait to hear to about your crappy marriage for a couple minutes. Why do you get ticked when the order taker asks you to hold on, but it's a-ok to ask them to hold on for like 5 freaking minutes while you finish your conversation on the phone?
2. Don't say "hello, anyone there?!?!?!" They know you are there. They hear your beat up car's motor in their ear. Oh and the stupid rap crap you are listening to on the radio. If they haven't said anything yet, it's probably because they are busting their chops trying to get the food out for the people in front of you. In many drive-thrus, the person taking your order is also taking money and bagging food at the same time. Drive-thru workers multi-task better than most high paid office workers (I know, I am now one of those)
3. If you have a loud car, cut the damn thing off. Most guys who drive diesel trucks do this already. Most other people in their beat up camaro don't. They should.
4.People like to look down on most fast food employees. You think you have a bad day when you boss chews you out? Try getting chewed out by multiple people, for something you have no control over, in front of all the other customers while standing on your feet for 8 hours. yeah. Your day doesn't compare - sorry.
5. If you are ordering for more than 3-4 people - go inside. Large orders make drive-thru workers mad. Why? Well, you just posted an article about it. it screws up the times that they are busting their chops to keep down.
6. Have your money ready, if possible.
7.If you demand everything "fresh" (you know, "I want hot fries. I want my whopper FOB (fresh off the broiler), etc) then expect to wait. Fries take (IIRC) like 3 minutes to cook. Fish and chicken are around 4 minutes. Burgers only take about 30 seconds.
8. Don't think you're smart by asking for "fries no salt" thinking you will get fresh fries. Chances are, they are just going to drop the old fries back in the grease to cook off the salt. Why? Because in almost every instance it's not because the person is trying to watch their sodium (they're eating fast food for crying out loud), it's because they "think" they are smart. They're not.
9. Be courteous. People remember the kindness. It makes their day a little brighter, and they are more likely to "go the extra mile" for you next time. Even more so, they remember the a-holes more. Expect bad service next time (or possibly something in your food). It happens.
10. When the people handling your food are wearing gloves, you get dirtier food. Period. If I scratch my nether regions (outside my pants, now lol) w/o gloves on and then go make your food, you are going to go ape s**t. But if I have gloves on, you probably don't care. It's a false sense of security, and the food industry knows this. They don't wear them for cleanliness, they do it to shut you up because you have no clue wtf you are talking about. Yeah, the health department mandates them in many instances, but they know people don't change their gloves everytime they touch a non-food surface. Think about this for a minute - most fast food employees will wash their hands or at least go pump a squirt of the sanitizer into their hands after doing something like that - if they don't have gloves on. If they have gloves on, they won't. Then they would have to change their gloves (they are a pain in the butt to get on when your hands aren't 100% dry). Oh yeah, and hands sweat in gloves. Gloves have tiny little holes in them to allow hands to breath. Sweat comes through the gloves. On to your food. Thought your food was safe because the handler had gloves on, huh? Nope.
@Michael La Calameto - I'm also in Covington, KY. I've never had Burger King do that to me, but Long John Silvers in Latonia does it every single time.
@Matt - Because it perpetuates a timing system that clearly isn't working, at any level. Of all of the comments that I've read both on my site and Consumerist, no matter whether the comments come from someone who supports cheating the system or not, nobody, at all, is defending the system. If it can be gamed, if it can be cheated, and if it is done at the rate that it is apparently being done, then the system is completely pointless and corporate should do something about it.
Easy for you to say, they're working a dead end minimum wage job. Who cares if they cheat, or if they're even a few second late with your food? If you have issues with the speed of your transaction why are you blaming an understaffed shift? Why aren't you angry at the corporation for not providing more workers?
I'm profoundly shocked at just how little thought you've given this. Your actions are indeed selfish, they're also ignorant.
@Dov - No, you're definitely not paranoid. I've worked in six restaurants and I know all too well what pissed-off employees will do to the customers who are pissing them off. I knew that if I wrote about this I wouldn't be going back there for that very reason. But I was also careful not to identify the restaurant, because I recognize that there's a big difference between a systemic problem and a problem with one person. I definitely don't expect the employee to be at all happy with me, but I hope she does recognize that I think the system doesn't work for her either.
maybe I am just paranoid but I wouldn't be making the minimum wage worker who is making my food out of my sight's job harder. one of my rules is don't tick off the cook.
so you're the bitch who's fucking complaining over every fucking little thing every god damn place i go - fuck off